There is a good reason why this blog is appearing on this site and this is about to become clear. That said, I should probably temper my excitement, but dare-I-say-it, I might have stumbled inadvertently upon a breakthrough in my world of book non-sales. A Phoenix might have been clutched from the flames in more…
Gigs in suits are always welcome – proper earners I like to call them. These are the gigs that have afforded me enough time to write my 9 books and counting. Each book being a bullet in the barrel and a potential shot at the jackpot. Note the use of the word ‘potential’, but I…
This is a brave edition of this long running blog. Foolhardy even but needs must. I have set a high bar for this weekly epistle. My readers expect many things including candour. They demand quality, some pathos, wisdom but above all else, they want to smile and occasionally laugh. And to create this alchemy, if…
As part of his A level art, Paddy has chosen photography – a smart move given his mum’s profession and her proclivity for helping others and especially her young. Like most students and probably almost all boys, Paddy likes to leave things to the very last second to complete and submit any tasks required of…
The last blog of an eventful and somewhat blighted year which began with a lockdown and ends with a quasi-one in the UK with people duly terrified by messages from our leaders imploring us to be very afraid. But Christmas arrived anyway and remains most people’s favourite time of the year. A time for family…
A week of landmarks and sporting incidents colliding to reveal and expose human traits and quirks which I imagine (or hope) we are all subject to. Patrick’s 17th birthday was additionally exciting this year because all his big brothers were in London and free to celebrate. Tom was ensconced in a palatial London hotel for…
Regrets in life are quite normal but we should keep in mind that they’re rarely fruitful. You know the kind of thinking… I wish I’d done this or If only I hadn’t done that. Clearly it is better to live in the present and to affect our future rather than dwelling on what went before….
It is expected that my memory is increasingly unreliable. Huge swathes of my past have gone forever but then occasionally little vignettes recur. A happy memory is offered up that I am grateful to be reminded of. A recent example involves the Banana Cabaret, a long-standing comedy club in a huge South London boozer called…
It is said that mimicry is the highest form of flattery – unless it happens to be identity theft that is, as has happened to me recently but has only just come to light – a combination of the thief’s cunning and the hectic lives of the Hollands. As a family, we are well used…
The health benefits of dog ownership are well known, companionship being the front runner of a very long and therapeutic list of benefits. Dogs are fiercely loyal. They offer undiluted affection. They are dependable and consistent. Dogs can be cuddled. They are warm. Unable to use toilets, dogs need to be walked, thereby the human…
